Why?
by Lone Butterfly
Summary: Noah Puckerman makes a shocking decision. Follows canon to Sectionals, who knows what will happen when the show comes back. I can't say much, or the story is spoiled, but if you like Puck,this story is for you!


**Why?**

Technically he never lied to her, not at all.

He had money that he offered her, even when she went back to Finn. He still spent his Saturdays and Sundays working a full 20 hours at the hospital where his mother was employed. Cleaning the buildings and cafeteria, but at least he had little chance of anyone he knew seeing him.

Both she and Finn had initially continued to refuse all his help, but Puck wasn't above calling in the big guns when it mattered, so after he told his mother (he was a badass, and if his mother's heart was going to get broken, he was going to man-up and tell her himself) – she called Finn's Mom and together the five of them sat around Puck's kitchen table.

The stack of bills wasn't small, and Finn's Mom was nice, but it was clear exactly where Finn got his brains from. Puck's Mom, on the other hand, demonstrated the Puckerman ability to "lie by exclusion", taking out her cell phone and placing a call.

"Mrs. Fabray? This is Nurse Jean calling to inquire about your daughter, Quinn Fabray's, insurance. Can you confirm she is still on your policy?"

The other four occupants of the kitchen sat stunned.

"She is? Excuse me, ma'am?" Puck started a little at the soft smile on his mother's face. "I'm sorry, I cannot disclose any medical details over the phone, but yes, your daughter is physically doing wonderful. Have a nice day, Mrs. Fabray."

She turned on her heel to stare at the group.

"Quinn, dear, have them file all your paperwork at the doctor's office. You are still on your parents insurance, so everything is covered. Shouldn't be more than $30 for the first visit and the rest are included, the ultrasounds and bloodwork labs may be a bit more in the form of co-pay, but when you get reimbursed for everything you've already paid, you'll have plenty to start saving for the baby when she's born."

"I'm...I'm..." Quinn stuttered, "I'm not keeping her. I've decided, I'm giving her up for adoption."

Jean Puckerman didn't miss the look of anguish that flitted past her son's face and she privately wondered if it was Quinn's words that brought it on, or the concerned looks of love that both Finn and his mother gave the pregnant girl.

* * *

Four months later, Jean was past wondering why her son continued to work every weekend at the hospital. He still played football and sang in that singing club, but he wasn't sneaking girls home, nor was he much for sneaking out anymore.

At school, he had begun avoiding everyone. His general asinine attitude hadn't changed one bit. He still sat in the back of the classrooms and glared at the teachers and other students. When he opened his mouth, a string of curse words usually preceded any actual thought he had to share.

Then, in his history class, the teacher announced a project worth 40% of their grade and told them to choose partners. He was a shocked as the rest of the class when Rachel Berry looked him straight in the eye and asked him to pair with her.

"Why?" was all he could manage to ask, afterward, when she hovered around his desk in the empty classroom, waiting for an answer.

"You stopped skipping class," she replied, her brown eyes never wavering. "And you made a high B on the last test. And you won't argue with me about my topic choice."

He nodded his head once, in agreement, and watched her flounce off to Calculus.

* * *

She made the announcement when she was 8 months pregnant. Only 4 weeks to go, he had the date circled on his calendar, right next to the one ultrasound picture she had given him of the baby girl.

She hadn't allowed him to go to any appointments with her, Finn did that.

Finn went shopping with her and bought her maternity clothes with the money Puck had given her.

Finn satisfied all her weird food cravings and rubbed her feet at night and made sure she took her prenatal vitamins every day.

She and Finn had decided together not to choose an adoptive couple, but allow the state to choose after the baby girl arrived. She said it would be easier that way.

And all he got was an announcement, with the rest of the Glee club.

"I'm moving. With my parents, as soon as the baby is born."

Soft whispered conversation filled the room, except for Puck, who just leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

That weekend he asked his boss if he could pick up two extra weeknight shifts, bringing his total hours to 30 a week.

* * *

He got the phone call at work, and was quietly pissed that Finn didn't even notice it took him less than 15 minutes to get to the Labor & Delivery ward.

"They are only allowing two of us in with her," Finn said, scratching the back of his neck and resembling an ape if Puck ever saw one. "She wants me and my Mum."

Puck gave a low grunt and sank down into the waiting room seats, quietly furious. The rest of the Glee Club and a few loan Cheerios arrived and took up two of the small areas, Brittany flittering back and forth between the two groups. Everyone avoided the brooding man, until Rachel arrived. She politely greeted the Glee Club, and acknowledged the Cheerios, before sitting down primly across the room next to Puck.

"What do you want?" He growled.

"I procured you a large cup of coffee."

He glanced, for the first time, at her outstretched hand, a giant Styrofoam cup being waved near his face.

"I thought you might need it," she continued, "first births can take a while."

They sat in blessed silence, he sipping the coffee and she was reading a book for English. Three hours later, when she felt him become restless beside her, she laid a surprisingly soft hand on his knee.

"Would you like me to go get you a sandwich?"

"Why?" He asked again, "we aren't friends."

"But we aren't really enemies anymore, are we?" She rose from her seat, smoothing her skirt down and placing the book in the empty spot. "I'll be right back."

The sandwich lay forgotten on the floor, when she returned and realized Finn was shouting for joy at the retelling of the birth of the baby girl. She dropped it and watched Puck push past his former best friend and sprint down the hallway.

"They are letting everyone in to see her, but we have to be quiet."

Rachel managed to slip ahead of everyone else, they stood around listening to Finn, and stood at the doorway to Quinn's recovery room.

"She's beautiful," Puck said, his daughter in his arms. "Just perfect."

"Don't get attached," Quinn spoke, her voice strong, but not as icy as Rachel remembered. "The state liaison comes tomorrow morning at 11 am in order for us to sign the papers. We aren't even naming her."

Puck gave her a look that Rachel couldn't describe, and leaned down to whisper in the baby's ear. His train of thought broken, when the crowd arrived, pushing past Rachel and into the room.

Later, as Puck left, Rachel gathered her books and walked with him out to the parking deck. She broke the silence when she laid a hand on his arm as they reached his truck.

"May I inquire as to what you said to your daughter?"

"That's private, Berry," he shook her hand off him.

"I apologize," she turned her back and moved towards her own car. She was surprised by the soft voice behind her.

"I told her that her name was Rebekah Caroline Puckerman."

"Beautiful," she replied, not even turning around.

* * *

At 11 am, five people gathered inside Quinn Fabray's room on the Lima Maternity Ward. Her parents were waiting outside, ready to take her home, to pack, they were leaving for Florida within the week, where Quinn could start all over with this "messiness" behind her.

The doctor had pronounced her fit to leave, and the nurse was preforming the routine exit paperwork when the social worker arrived. Finn and Puck had taken seats on either side of the lone window, waiting uncomfortably for this all to be over. Puck couldn't help but cringe at the plans for college the two lovebirds were making. His head snapped up as their conversation stopped when the older woman walked into the room.

"Miss Fabray? Mr. Puckerman?" She asked, opening her worn leather satchel briefcase on the bedside table. "I just have a paper for you to sign and we'll be done. I already have a couple in mind for your beautiful daughter, so she'll be going home soon."

No one noticed Puck tense at her words.

They all sat quietly as the social worker reviewed the law, they had five days from the date they signed away their parental rights to revoke that right and for those five days the baby would be cared for by a foster family, before being given to her new family. The social worker would contact the lucky couple as soon as she left the hospital. She went on and on, until finally she pulled out the paperwork.

"Miss Fabray, if you will sign by this X please."

Quinn's hand didn't shake at all, she lifted the blue fountain pen and elegantly signed her name on the line.

"Now, Mr. Puckerman - "

"No." He cut her off, his arms across his chest.

"Excuse me?" The social worker looked at him, stunned.

"I said, no," he repeated. "I don't intend to give up rights to my daughter."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Finn shouted, over Quinn's choked sobs.

"You made your choice, now I get to make mine," he stood firmly, daring the social worker to contradict him.

"Does this change your mind, Miss Fabray?"

"Of course not!" Quinn retorted, horrified at the suggestion.

"Then I am afraid he has a point, he has the right to become his daughter's sole parent, if that is what he chooses."

"I'm going to see my daughter now," he informed the room, and as calmly as Finn had ever seen him, he made his way down to the nursery where he could stare at her through the window.

The paperwork took longer than he had hoped, but by nightfall, he had the large pink "Father Puckerman" bracelet on his wrist that matched the tiny pink "Baby Puckerman" bracelets on his daughter's wrist and ankle.

The rest of the world had been calling and texting him all day, anger, hurt, astonishment and amazement circling around.

He held his baby girl, his Rebekah, close to his chest and rocked her to sleep. The phone set to silent and the empty bottle stuck between his thigh and the arm of the chair.

"Hey," came a soft voice.

"Berry?" He answered, just as softly. "I got her to sleep about ten minutes ago, so keep the crazy dialed down."

"I brought you a gift, a going home outfit for Rebekah."

She held up a beautiful tiny dress and a soft pink blanket.

"Berry, is that the Ralph Lauren logo on the chest?"

"Kurt helped me pick it out," she gave a small smile.

He gave her a long look, until she began to feel uncomfortable.

"Can I trust you, Berry?"

Sensing this was bigger than his normal stupid antics, she gave a quick nod.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he looked down at his daughter and then back up at Rachel in the doorway.

"My wallet is on the table right there, under the McDonald's bag. Take the cash and go to Target. When you get there, look up the baby gift registry for Rebekah."

"You have a baby gift registry?" She exclaimed in astonishment, before lowering her voice as Rebekah squirmed.

"You can make them online now," he said defensively, "and I was never going to take Rebekah away from Quinn, but she's mine now and I had to plan for that."

Rachel held up her hands and nodded.

"You don't have to explain yourself, Noah. Just tell me what you want me to get."

"Take Kurt to help pick out clothes and do NOT go overboard. Then, the basics. A carseat and bassinet and diapers and stuff."

She left with a giant wad of cash, and returned hours later to find the exhausted dad and daughter in almost exactly same place.

* * *

He stepped into school, daring anyone to make a comment – he was a badass and no one messes with badasses, especially not Puckerman Badasses.

The halls grew quiet, and people stared, but there was no pointing and laughing. The solid black sling, with a skull and crossbones adorning the pocket, looped over his head and shoulder as his two week old daughter lay sleeping inside.

Surprisingly, it was Brittany who broke rank first and bounded over, chattering away as if Noah Puckerman at school with a baby sling (and a baby) was an everyday normal occurrence. She bounced along beside him, her mindless droning defusing the stares slowly. She walked him all the way to first period, English, where he was surprised to see Rachel in her regular seat, but with a new pink trolley bag even larger than her previous monstrosity.

"Damn thing takes up the whole aisle," he muttered, shoving past it to sit beside her. He carefully adjusted the sling so Rebekah was comfortably settled in his lap.

"Do you really want her first words to be cursing, Noah?" Rachel asked, her query lacking any real chastising.

He ignored her in favor of staring down Mrs. Pallansch, the English teacher who stuttered a bit before pointedly ignoring the _father_ in the second row. When she walked by to hand out the day's pop quiz, he handed her a large manila envelope.

"Make-up work," he informed her, shortly, before leaning down to answer the 25 questions on _The Scarlet Letter_. A deep chuckle let Rachel know the irony was not lost on him.

* * *

As if they were physic, and Rachel still contended she thought she was, the Gleeks made their way to the music room at lunch, no one startled to see Puck leaning back in a chair, a bottle in one hand and a slightly fussy baby in the other arm.

"We need to talk, Puck," Mercedes barged in first, "about her."

"She has a name," he retorted, as he bounced Rebekah and expertly fitted the nipple of the bottle in-between her tiny lips.

"We want to help you with Rebekah," Brittany sat down on the riser, Matt and Mike sitting beside her.

"I'm compiled a list," Rachel pulled out a piece of pink paper with a beautiful chart, and what Puck thought might be a pie graph at the bottom. "If you let each of us have her during our Study Hall periods, she'll always have someone with her, here at school."

"We've al-ll taken infant CP-P-PR," Tina added, leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest.

"And we've secured permission to use one of the empty Cheerio rooms for a playpen and to keep her stroller," Santana stood off to the side, watching. At Puck's incredulous look she shrugged her shoulders. "According to Sue Sylvester, Rebekah's genetics are the future of William McKinley High School Cheerios."

They all watched as a range of emotions played out on Puck's face, finally he opened his mouth.

"No randomly changing her outfits into prissy girl shit," he stared at Kurt. "Or singing her girly-love songs."

"She is a girl," Mercedes answered, "but I concur on the girly-love songs. Sister needs some real soul." She punctuated her comment with a swing of her hips and a couple of snaps to the side.

And as simple as that, Rebekah Caroline Puckerman became the youngest girl to attend William McKinley High School.

* * *

The next two weeks passed smoothly, much to Puck's surprise. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and so on Saturday morning, after a long night of Rebekah refusing to sleep for him, the doorbell rang at 6 am sharp.

He stumbled to the door, somewhere in his foggy mind trying to determine how someone found out about his new loft apartment.

"Quiet!" He hissed through the door, yanking it open and continuing his diatribe. "I just got her to sleep and so help me if you wake her up - "

The threat hung in mid-air as his eyes focused on Rachel, standing on his doorstep, a pink messenger bag over her shoulder and another of those huge coffee cups in her hand.

"You start work again today, correct?" She gently pushed past him, pushing the coffee into his chest.

"Not until 11 am," he answered, cautiously taking a sip of the coffee. "I'm suppose to drop Rebekah off at the sitter's at 10:30."

"Unnecessary," Rachel shook her head and placed her bag on the small kitchen counter before surveying the rest of the studio. "Babysitters cost money and we both know that I have no social life to speak of. Kurt's father helped us install a carseat in my car, so I can bring Rebekah to visit you during your lunch break. Then, when she is a bit older, I would appreciate your permission to take her to Synagogue. On Sundays, I have planned various outings to offer her a variety of enrichment activities, all age appropriate, of course..."

She glanced around the small area, a old twin bed in one corner, with a beautiful oak crib near the head of the bed. Soft brown and pink polka dots covered the quilt hanging on the wall above where Rebekah's sleeping form lay.

"Why?"

"Am I here early? I assumed you would want to have a few hours of guaranteed sleep before work, plus a shower. I thought I would come over and take care of Rebekah if she wakes, so you can wait until the last minute to go in."

"We aren't friends, Berry."

"But we aren't enemies, anymore, are we, Noah?"

"I can do this alone, Berry."

"Of course you can. But you can do it better if you allow us to help you. She's your daughter, and she always will be. But you and I both know you're doing better in school and trying to get a scholarship to college. So, please, let us – let me, help you give her the life she deserves. Please, Noah."

He didn't respond to her directly, just reached up and flipped off the light, throwing himself back into his bed. She took that as permission to stay, and quietly slipped onto the raggedy love seat, pulling her knees under her and opening the script for "_Spring Awakening_". Dreams of Broadway continued dancing in her head.

* * *

Rebekah Caroline Puckerman was two when her Daddy graduated from High School.

She spent her weekdays at her Nana Jean's house. Daddy dropped her off at 7:30 am and she was promptly picked up at 3 pm every day.

On Mondays, she spent the afternoon with Miss Brittany and Miss Santana. They took her to Parent/Child gymnastics and always helped her into her tiny purple and blue leotard.

On Tuesdays, she spent the afternoon with Miss Mercedes and Miss Kurt. They always took her shopping and helped her braid her hair.

On Wednesdays and Thursdays, she sat on the bleachers with Mr. Artie and Miss Tina and watched Daddy play football with her friends. Sometimes she even got to wave a pompom in the air and play in the dirt.

On Fridays, she was either with Miss Pillsbury, who let her sit on her lap and watch Daddy play football – or in the off season, she and Daddy would go to McDonald's and play in the giant ball pit, just the two of them.

But her favorite days were Saturdays and Sundays. She would wake up early and toddled into the kitchen, where Mamen would be cooking pancakes. Usually she would catch Daddy making Mamen giggle and he would move away from Mamen's neck and swoop Rebekah up in the air when she came in. She would laugh and reach for her Mamen, snuggling into the crook of her neck and kissing where her Daddy had been kissing only moments before.

"Mamen!"

"Good morning, baby, how did you sleep?"

"Pan-kake, Mamen, pan-kake!"

"Carry you cup to the table, love."

Rebekah would carefully hold her Little Mermaid sippy cup in both hands and climb into her booster seat, waiting for Daddy to bring over his cup of coffee and Mamen's cup of orange juice.

"I have a surprise for you, baby girl. How would you like to live with Mamen all the time? In the big city?"

Rebekah clapped her hands and almost knocked Ariel onto the ground.

"Mamen!"

"Noah! I thought we were waiting to tell everyone. Until we made it official."

"I got the job, Berry. We have no debt right now, three months rent saved up, plus deposit. Hell, we've already signed the lease on the 2 bedroom in the Upper East side, for less than $2,000 a month. You're going to audition until you get your big break, and we live our dreams. What else do you want to make it official?"

"Why?" she asked him. Her eyes shining with what looked to Rebekah like tears.

"We aren't friends, Berry." He said with a smug grin.

"Well, we aren't exactly enemies, Noah," she replied.

"We're engaged," he answered, tugging her into his lap. He took her left hand in his and aimed the pretty diamond towards his daughter. "And we're better than friends."

"Really?" Rachel asked, turning up to look at him.

He waited so long to answer her, that she almost became worried. His arms tightened around her waist and he moved the familiar Styrofoam cup of coffee away from the edge of the table.

She was shocked to hear his voice almost break as he finally spoke.

"We're parents."

* * *

A/N: ARGH! Seriously – IN – LOVE – WITH – PUCKLEBERRY! I've been reading the Baby Mama Drama challenge, but really wanted to stick with canon as far as Quinn being pregnant. I have been so intrigued by how adamant Noah is that he wants to care for the baby, that this fic came about. PLEASE, dear writers, let Finn and Quinn be together....so our Puckleberry hearts can dream on! Also, "Mamen" is rough Yiddish for "mother", but seemed appropriate for Rebekah to call the woman she sees as her mother.


End file.
